Cycling Bear Studio

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a game app.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cycling Bear Studio?

I needed someone to provide me with UI/UX services and consulting for game development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cycling Bear Studio provides me with UI/UX design and development services and consulting. Initially, I gave them a PDF file that included the UX/UI we had so far. They read that document and came back with the estimated timeline and budget. Then, they helped me with several small tasks within my game development project. They successfully delivered the solutions without any bugs or issues; that’s why I continued working with them.

What is the team composition?

I’m in contact with Cycling Bear Studio’s owner and co-owner, and I work with more than three people from their team. They have a really good team. One person is in charge of linking with clients, and another one is in charge of their backend service.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent around $10,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Cycling Bear Studio has done a great job doing what I’ve asked for. Thanks to their work, I had no problems developing my game’s back- and frontend.

How did Cycling Bear Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m very happy with Cycling Bear Studio’s performance. We first tried Jira, but it didn’t work well for us, so we switched. Now, we communicate through Slack. Even though we have a time difference, we chat as much as possible, and fortunately, there haven’t been any communication issues. Additionally, we have a weekly call.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cycling Bear Studio is Russian, but their team members’ English is excellent. They don’t commit grammar mistakes, and they speak very clearly. Additionally, they deliver high-level code, so I can say that development is their strength.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although Cycling Bear Studio is very professional, their services are a bit expensive.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be specific about your needs and clear about your idea.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the creative director of Creative Mules which is a digital design studio based in Amsterdam. We provide web and application design services.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cycling Bear Studio?

We don't have any in-house development resources so we needed outside help with a couple of gaming applications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

It wasn’t one specific project but rather an ongoing collaboration for a handful of smaller things. They have provided us with Unity and Unreal Engine development for game products as well as game design.

One of the key features they did was documentation for how the game functions. They really understand the technical aspects that are necessary. They would analyze the technicalities needed, created documentation, and a roadmap of the development.

For some of the projects, they build out features such as AR detection, so they are able to place items in an interactive game. They have taken care of the 3D modeling as well as the design of those 3D models, and the design of the game logic and the game design aspect of it; how the game functions.

They have done everything that needs to be in a functioning game that encompasses Unity. The technical aspects are often AR-based games or games like applications that often involve 3D objects. They will do the 3D object, the development as well as the documentation.

What is the team composition?

I worked with four people including the CEO, the CTO, their project manager, and another person who does the 3D modeling.

How did you come to work with Cycling Bear Studio?

We had a personal connection to Cycling Bear Studio. We initially collaborated when they needed design support and that partnership was just naturally born. We didn’t actively search for the services.

How much have you invested in them?

We have invested between $7,000–$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement began in September 2020. The bigger project we worked on was completed in November 2020, but we do have an ongoing collaboration of minor things.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The success for us was the timeliness of delivery which was perfect. They delivered it earlier than we needed. Another thing was documentation. We needed to ensure that the product is scalable and that everything is clearly documented, the style of documentation as well as GitHub, and that all the files were organized, and that was successful.

We did the QA ourselves and checked for any bugs, and that was another metric. Last but not least, it was the conversion of the design elements such as the UI design that we created to the actual code and whether that conversion was pixel perfect.

How did Cycling Bear Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, it was a little slow, but that was understandable because a lot of these projects are very technical. The planning changed a couple of times along the way, but it didn’t cause any delays, so it was fine, and it actually brought more benefits as they asked a lot of questions and made sure that they understood everything.

Overall, it was good. We didn’t interact with any specific project management tools. I remember seeing something from ClickUp, and our main communication was fairly casual with interactions through Slack and Telegram, the standard communication tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cycling Bear Studio is very brutally honest, which we appreciated. They were very upfront about an idea being bad and they don’t just say yes which is nice. They are critical and they clearly highlight if they think something might not work right away.

They don’t intend on trying it just to try it out and waste resources like time and money. I appreciated the transparency and honesty in their very clear feedback. They are never afraid to tell you what their thoughts are.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

It wasn’t initially clear who the team members were that were the actual developers. For some people, it isn’t important, but it would be good if they would perhaps present their team a bit more effectively so that people can understand which team members would be working on what.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Anyone who might be clueless in the technical department space should reach out and talk to them. They are really helpful in the documentation of the planning and understanding the feasibility of the development, especially with really abstract things like AR, VR, and Unity development and those tech areas.

Be prepared and have some technical understanding to be able to address your questions. Maybe learn some terminology yourself before collaborating with this type of studio, not just Cycling Bear Studio.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm CEO of mobile gaming company. Our main products are hypercasual games

For what projects/services did your company hire Cycling Bear Studio?

We had a great idea for a hyper-casual mobile game, but we didn't have enough production capacity to develop it. The project had to be done quickly, as there was a certain trend in social networks. It was decided to find a studio that would be professional enough to complete the project on time using complex technologies, and the project should work smooth on Android devices.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I started asking the community for a team that could help and got some super reviews on working with Cycling Bear. We asked guys about interaction, price and timing, and everything was great

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They created a simulation game where the player prepares various dishes in the kitchen. This game used complex material physics, but the project worked perfectly on mobile devices and everything looked great.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with 4 people, icluding 2 Unity devs, 1 3D-artist and 1 manager

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The guys developed the application in a short time. As a result, we got good marketing numbers on CPI, CTR, and playtime and good retention.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everything was great. We communicated through the Slack having calls twice a week. The guys understood the task perfectly and did everything exactly as it should

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have a great team atmosphere, managers, and always met deadlines.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Everything was great!

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a platform designed for people to meet for sports. I am the founder of the company.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cycling Bear Studio?

The app needed better speed optimization and further improvement for data collection strategies as well as backend development.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal for the project was to improve the app and allow for ease of use from the admin section as well as consumer section

How did you select Cycling Bear Studio?

They were recommended to me by a friend And after initial contact they seemed friendly enough to work with

Describe the project in detail.

The speed of the app was tested over a couple of months. The cycling bear team tested for hot spots on the app, which essentially allowed us to understand consumer behaviour while using the app better.

They fixed the backend so that we collect peoples accounts and send out notifications and send messages and emails. They made the backend easy to use rather than the complicated system it previously existed in.

What was the team composition?

I worked directly with their team members. I knew that would be the case from the start as they like to be fully present within the environment as much as i do myself

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The app is faster, backend is smoother.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was good, the presented process maps to identify bottlenecks and explained what must be done to get Fixed

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciate the fact that they were patient and time organized, I also am impressed of how they know about design and not just code.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Even though communication was clear, sometimes the client might not understand the terminology used by programmers, and so maybe using more basic language for everyone to understand would be appreciated

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder of Pigeon Eye Games.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cycling Bear Studio?

We wanted to create a prototype of the game "Eden Brothel".

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have several options in Upwork and this was the best deal.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

It's a third-person simulation game where you play as one of the brothel's inhabitants and serve different clients. It takes place in the Victorian era and covers the history of feminism's rise in England.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

An unreal developer and a project manager.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The prototype was done according to the documentation.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

8/10.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They did a great job at an affordable price.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Keep up improving tech skills.

Please describe your company and your position there.

CTO at &samhoud creative tech

For what projects/services did your company hire Cycling Bear Studio, and what were your goals?

Various project, custom software development as part of our internal software development team.

How did you select Cycling Bear Studio and what were the deciding factors?

Evegny worked with us for two years before starting Cycling Bear.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Various projects as part of our internal development team.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Only Evgeny.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Excellent results were delivered.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Used our internal tools and methodologies.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I can throw anything crazy Evgeny's way and he'll always find a solution.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of the company and would like to test the game idea

For what projects/services did your company hire Cycling Bear Studio, and what were your goals?

I didn't have free hands to test all the ideas for hyper-casual games in-house, so I was looking for an outsourcer company.

How did you select Cycling Bear Studio and what were the deciding factors?

I've heard positive reviews from some of my industry colleagues and after the first talk with Cycling Bear Studio, I felt that we had the match. They listened to the idea, made fast cost/time calculations, and suggested a couple of nice game design solutions.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They listened to the idea, made fast cost/time calculations, and suggested a couple of nice game design solutions. After a few iterations with small adjustment, the game was ready for release on iOS and Android. Developers also integrated all needed ad and analytic SDKs.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I have one contact point there, but there were 1 unity developer and 1 artist working on the title.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The game showed super-low CPI, which is great and the players never complain about any bugs.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We had weekly calls and they shared the game builds as soon as they were compiled.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I like the pace of work.